video – Optics4Birding Nature Blog Networkhttp://www.optics4birding.com/blog
Animals, Birds and Nature in depth articlesWed, 31 Jan 2018 21:38:19 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.5Elegant Ternshttp://www.optics4birding.com/blog/elegant-terns/
Fri, 23 Sep 2016 01:29:28 +0000http://www.optics4birding.com/blog/?p=1014Murmurations of European Starlings are well documented and beautiful to behold. This is the first time I have ever seen a similar flight by Elegant Terns.

Terns at Bolsa Chica

Elegant Terns galore! In late spring and early summer, one of the birding spectacles in Southern California is the colony of terns at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach, Orange County. The pretty estuary (as its name translates from Spanish) has been host to twelve species of terns, with Common, Royal, Caspian, Gull-billed, Black, breeding Black Skimmer, Forster’s, Least, and Elegant, and rarities Sooty, Sandwich, and Bridled.

The Elegant Terns Video

On a Sunday morning in mid-June, I witnessed more than 15 minutes of the spectacular scene in the video below. 30,000 and 40,000 pairs of Elegant Terns bred at Bolsa Chica this year. All of a sudden, most of them were in the air, resembling European Starlings in a murmuration. Watch how the terns seem to move in unison creating great swirling clouds. When I left, this stunning aerial ballet was still going on. Usually a marauding Peregrine Falcon or Northern Harrier instigates flights of terns like these. I scanned the sky above the terns but never did find one. That’s a good thing. No terns were harmed in the making of this video.

In years past, the berm where the terns are flying had oil rigs and power poles and lines supplying power to the pumps. Peregrines often roosted on multiple poles, waiting to pick off a a tern or Snowy Plover chick. But now, the State of California has modified Bolsa Chica to open the back area to the ocean, thus improving the habitat. The power poles and oil rigs are gone. The sand is clean, and the nearest Peregrine Falcon roosts are almost a mile away. Northern Harriers are not present in June.

]]>Olive-backed Pipithttp://www.optics4birding.com/blog/olive-backed-pipit/
Tue, 04 Nov 2014 04:10:57 +0000http://www.optics4birding.com/blog/?p=464Christmas arrived early in Orange County this weekend. Jeff Bray, a local birder, made the find of a lifetime: an Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni). Jeff found this bird at Yorba Regional Park. It may not sound like much, but it’s a really big deal. Olive-backed Pipit – Previous Continental Records For starters, there were only […]

]]>Christmas arrived early in Orange County this weekend. Jeff Bray, a local birder, made the find of a lifetime: an Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni). Jeff found this bird at Yorba Regional Park. It may not sound like much, but it’s a really big deal.

Olive-backed Pipit – Previous Continental Records

Olive-backed Pipit, Yorba Regional Park, 01-NOV-14

For starters, there were only 3 previous records of this species in North America away from Alaska. (Here, we define North America geographically as including Mexico – not the birding definition). Washoe, Nevada hosted the first continental Olive-backed Pipit in 1967. Subsequent records came from Baja in 1996, and on the Farallon Islands in California in 1998. So the take-home message is, these guys don’t show up very often! Whenever a call like this goes out, birders do their version of a ‘flash mob’! The Yorba Regional Park mob on Saturday was very impressive!

I was among the first 20 birders there, but soon birders began arriving from all over the map in minutes. And soon it was a who’s who of southern California birders. And why not? This little Olive-backed Pipit really put on a show! It led us a merry dance at first, flying from place to place within the park. Frequently, it landed in heavy cover and skulked around. Sometimes the only visible indication it was there was movement of the vegetation it was walking under. But eventually, it came out on the lawn between the picnic tables and fed calmly for about an hour. Everyone there got crippling looks! In fact, the bird was remarkably cooperative, seeming oblivious to the camera shutter whir and quiet conversation of excited birders.

Olive-backed Pipit – Plumage Characteristics

Olive-backed Pipit, from behind

The Olive-backed Pipit is a relatively small, slender bird, measuring about 6 inches from beak to tail. The back is a drab grayish olive green. A few darker feather centers form ill-defined solid or dotted lines down the back. Streaks mark the similarly colored crown. The primaries show more substantial dark inner edges. The outer primaries, when folded, show a hint of brighter olive green coloration. Very dark, well-defined spots and streaks mark the buffy upper chest and clean, bright white belly.

Olive-backed Pipit has a distinctive face pattern, with a bright supercilium that is yellow-tan across the base of the bill. Even more distinctive is the dark eyeline running right through the eye at the base of the bill. Crucial to the ID, it splits the white supercilium behind the eye. A tan “ear patch” with a distinctive brownish black patch at the rear borders more white on the lower cheek. A black malar stripe runs from below the bill to a black patch at the shoulder. The fairly deeply notched tail feathers were olive along the outer margins.

This particular Olive-backed Pipit had bright and long feather edging suggesting it had just completed a molt. Three of the black-centered median coverts had wide white fringes forming a bright upper wingbar. The tan, broadly-fringed greater coverts formed a less distinct lower wingbar. Basically, Olive-backed Pipit is a study in subtle beauty.

Olive-backed Pipit – Behavior

Olive-backed Pipit, foraging

In behavior, the Olive-backed Pipit resembles an American Pipit (Anthus rubescens) in its foraging behavior. Except that it often prefers heavier cover. This bird “teetered” a lot (like a Spotted Sandpiper or an Ovenbird). It often bobbed and dipped its tail as it leaned forward to grab insects from the grass. It even teetered while walking on branches when flushed up into the trees by over-zealous birders or passing dogs. The bird rarely stood still at all during the entire time I watched it.

When in flight, it often gave a very high call with a burry tone to it. For a primarily a terrestrial bird, this Olive-backed Pipit often boldly flew very high in trees. It perched 75 feet up a sycamore at one point, and high in an oak later. But it always came back down sooner or later, much to the delight of the assembled crowd.

Olive-backed Pipit – Conservation Status

Olive-backed Pipit – frontal view showing chest streaking

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) designated Olive-backed Pipit a Red List species of least concern. Olive-backed Pipit thrives throughout Europe and Asia, without obvious signs of decline. However, no one is looking very closely at it. In the U.S., apart from the three other records, Olive-backed Pipit was heretofore found only on the islands off Alaska. It is casual on St. Lawrence Island and the Pribiloffs, and rare on the western Aleutians. Occasionally, larger fallouts of dozens of individuals occur when weather conditions are right. In any case, this Olive-backed Pipit was truly a special occurrence here, and a delight to watch.

]]>Dance of the Reddish Egrethttp://www.optics4birding.com/blog/dance-reddish-egret/
Sun, 24 Aug 2014 00:09:24 +0000http://www.optics4birding.com/blog/?p=235When people find out I’m a birder, one of the most frequent questions is “What’s your favorite bird?” Sometimes I’ll give a flippant answer such as “My next life bird.” Other times, I’ll say that I love all birds and can’t pick a favorite – that each is special in its own way. I do […]

When people find out I’m a birder, one of the most frequent questions is “What’s your favorite bird?” Sometimes I’ll give a flippant answer such as “My next life bird.” Other times, I’ll say that I love all birds and can’t pick a favorite – that each is special in its own way. I do have an affinity for Magnificent Frigatebirds, because seeing an adult male flying fifteen feet over my head while standing on a dock on Key West was the experience that triggered my choice to actively pursue the hobby of birding. But there are in fact some birds that are definitely cooler than others, be they prettier, uglier, sweet singers, or just plain quirky. One of these is the Reddish Egret (Egretta rufecens).

Reddish Egrets, once rare in Southern California, have been moving gradually up the coast. They now inhabit estuaries from San Diego through Ventura. Recently, they are visiting Santa Barbara. At Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, they are breeding. Birders frequently report sightings of 2 or 3 individuals.

Reddish Egret Hunting Behavior

As you will see in this video, Reddish Egrets have some strange behavior compared to other egrets and herons. Most egrets and herons stand still and wait patiently for their prey to appear, but Reddish Egrets are active hunters. They eat fish, frogs, and crustaceans. They hunt in brackish or salty water in coastal tidal flats, salt marshes, or lagoons.

First, they dance to stir up the bottom and get their prey to come out of hiding and swim around. Next, they chase after their quarry with long strides and neck extended a la Groucho Marx. They run to get between the prey and the sun. Then they pull back their head and spread their wings to shade the water to remove the reflections and glare that prevent them from seeing what is swimming around. Once they find their prey, they thrust their head forward to grab it. The Reddish Egret in this video seemed to have a pretty high success rate. I wonder if the effort it put into catching such tiny fish was worth the energy gained, but is sure is entertaining to watch.

]]>Wildlife Photography is like a Box of Chocolateshttp://www.optics4birding.com/blog/wildlife-photography-like-box-chocolates/
Sat, 17 May 2014 03:53:26 +0000http://staging.optics4birding.com/blog/?p=51To paraphrase Forest Gump’s mother, wildlife photography, especially video, is like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re going to get. Animals do things on their own volition, so it always pays to wait and watch. After looking at shorebirds along the Los Angeles River last fall, we walked back to the […]

To paraphrase Forest Gump’s mother, wildlife photography, especially video, is like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re going to get. Animals do things on their own volition, so it always pays to wait and watch.

After looking at shorebirds along the Los Angeles River last fall, we walked back to the car through a park along the river. It was late morning and butterflies and dragonflies were quite active. Although we are primarily birders, we are interested in all of nature. So, we stopped to see what we could find.

Dragonfly Feeding Behavior

Dragonflies have two main methods of getting food: hawking and patrolling. In hawking, the dragonfly perches on the end of a branch, stump, or rock and waits for its prey to come flying by. In patrolling, the dragonfly flies up and down an area, often a path or road, and searches out its prey. Patrolling dragonflies are notoriously difficult to photograph because they are hardly ever stationary.

The Wildlife Photography Surprise

As we walked along, I noticed a Flame Skimmer. It was sitting perched on a stick in the middle of a planted area. Fortunately, Flame Skimmers are hawking dragonflies, so I decided to digiscope some video through my Kowa TSN-884 spotting scope with my micro four thirds camera. I set up, zoomed in, and started recording, waiting for something interesting to happen. The first few times the skimmer flew off its perch, I stopped recording, but it kept returning. Interested in showing that behavior, I started a new clip and decided to let the video run until it came back. Was I ever surprised and happy.

Letting the video run really paid off. When the Flame Skimmer returned to its perch, it was chewing away on a gnat! I never expected that. What a surprise! Isn’t wildlife photography fun?

]]>Gone Fishinhttp://www.optics4birding.com/blog/gone-fishin/
Mon, 28 Apr 2014 06:50:48 +0000http://staging.optics4birding.com/blog/?p=73We can learn a lot by watching animals. Unlike humans, they remain focused on their task at all times. This Green Heron, gone fishin at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine, California was no exception. Green Herons, like most members of the heron and egret family, fish and crustaceans for a living. They have to […]

We can learn a lot by watching animals. Unlike humans, they remain focused on their task at all times. This Green Heron, gone fishin at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine, California was no exception.

Green Herons, like most members of the heron and egret family, fish and crustaceans for a living. They have to get good at it to survive. Of the family members that occur in North America, the Great Blue Heron and the Cattle Egret eat land-based critters. The Great Blue Heron will eat anything it can fit in its mouth including rodents and birds. The Cattle Egret eats mostly insects, but also frogs and worms.

This Green Heron waited patiently, coiled like a spring and camouflaged in the bulrushes. Watch the Heron intently following fish in the water nearby. It almost strikes, but the distance to the fish is wrong. When a fish finally comes within striking distance, the Heron lunges with lightning speed and precision.

]]>Season of Shorebirds – Summer 2011http://www.optics4birding.com/blog/season-shorebirds-summer-2011/
Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:53:09 +0000http://staging.optics4birding.com/blog/?p=125The summer of 2011 is shaping up to be a fabulous season of shorebirds in California. The season kicked off with the appearance of the Lesser Sand-Plover in Orange County, CA, a cooperative bird that stayed a total of 8 days in late June, delighting many observers. Shorebirds to the North July has been even […]

]]>The summer of 2011 is shaping up to be a fabulous season of shorebirds in California. The season kicked off with the appearance of the Lesser Sand-Plover in Orange County, CA, a cooperative bird that stayed a total of 8 days in late June, delighting many observers.

Shorebirds to the North

Little Stint

July has been even better with the appearance of two Little Stints, both in northern California. On the 23rd, Kimball Garrett discovered another one at Piute Ponds on the grounds of Edwards Air Force Base in norther

n LA County. On the same day, a Wilson’s Plover was found at the Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve in Carpinteria. Unfortunately it was in a restricted area where only a limited few could get access.

The Little Stint was too good to pass up, so a group of us got up before dawn the next day and made the trek north, arriving on the site by 7:15. The bird was re-found within minutes of our arrival and we began watching this rather reddish adult shortly after. After about an hour of digiscoping pictures and video, one of the observers got a phone call saying that Guy McCaskie had found an adult Curlew Sandpiper on the salt basin at Imperial Beach, south of San Diego. You could look at the birders around you and just see the wheels turning as they all began calculating time and distance, or perhaps gauging spousal approval.

Shorbirds to the South

Curlew Sandpiper

For us, it was a no-brainer: we were going! Even with a stop or two along the way, we made it to the site just a bit before noon. We pulled together the cameras, scopes, tripods and binoculars and made the ¼-mile trek out to the site. As we arrived, we could tell something was off from the assembled crowd of birders. Strange and angry mutterings like “!*^$&% Peregrine Falcon!!” and worried bits of encouragement like “It’s got to be here somewhere!” suggested the nature of the problem. With over 20 birders searching, no one found the bird for at least an hour.

At that point, we decided to break for lunch and come back later, so we drove off in search of fast food. As it turned out, the food wasn’t fast enough: it had just been delivered to the table when the phone rang. The bird was back! Unlike the stint, this wasn’t a life bird for either of us, so we opted to hurriedly finish our sandwiches before charging back out there. Apparently everyone had heard. The crowd of birders had more than doubled, and the mood was ebullient. The bird itself was calmly feeding on the near edge of the water, evidently oblivious to the mob of admirers mere yards away. It put on quite a show, feeding and preening and occasionally lifting its wings.

Season of Shorebirds Continues

Since then, two more great shorebirds have shown up, although both are way further north again. On the 26th, a Red-necked Stint appeared in Coos County Oregon. On August 5th, Ryan Merrill found a Wood Sandpiper at Samish Flats, WA. For those of you on the left coast, you might want to hit any marsh, lake, bay or beach with any kind of suitable habitat. And for those of you from more distant locales, you might want to check your opportunities for standby flights. Who knows what could show up in a year like this!

]]>Digiscoped Video – American Oystercatcherhttp://www.optics4birding.com/blog/digiscoped-video-american-oystercatcher/
Sat, 22 May 2010 11:44:42 +0000http://staging.optics4birding.com/blog/?p=155On Saturday, May 22, 2010, I followed up on a report of an American Oystercatcher at a few locations in Laguna Beach. I tried Crescent Bay first, and was fortunate to find five Oystercatchers on the rocks below the point. There were three Black Oystercatchers, while the other two looked pretty good for Americans. What […]

]]>On Saturday, May 22, 2010, I followed up on a report of an American Oystercatcher at a few locations in Laguna Beach. I tried Crescent Bay first, and was fortunate to find five Oystercatchers on the rocks below the point. There were three Black Oystercatchers, while the other two looked pretty good for Americans.

What are they?

Black and American Oystercatchers interbreed and their hybrid offspring can be anywhere on a cline from pure Black to pure American. We had to evaluate these birds for purity. J. R. Jehl, Jr. developed a rating system used by ornithologists to determine where on the cline a given bird falls. Because there are several genetic variations that are involved, we use ten different characteristics to judge the birds. Nine of them have a score between 0 and 4. The belly coloration goes from 0 to 6. A bird with a score of 0 to 9 rates is a pure Black Oystercatcher. One scored from 30 to 38 is pure American, and everything in between is a hybrid.